It gives me great pleasure to be here in Ankara today to co-chair with my brother, Prime Minister Erdogan, the 3rd meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) between our two countries.

Pakistan and Turkey enjoy a special relationship bound by fraternal ties of religion, history and culture.

As two functioning democracies, our perspectives are marked by a common outlook and shared objectives.

This visit, one of my first after assuming office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, underscores the great importance that we, in Pakistan, place on our strategic relations with Turkey.

The decision to rename the process as High Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) aptly reflects this political reality.

We have just concluded a very productive 3rd session of the Strategic Council. Our discussions were marked by unanimity of views on all issues of mutual concern. A number of wide-ranging MoUs/agreements have also been finalized during the meeting, which have been now signed and you all witnessed.

Earlier today, I was honored by the conferment of Jumhuriyet Nishan by President Abdullah Gul.

In my discussions with both President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan, we have pledged to intensify our cooperation in energy, trade, finance, transportation, infrastructure development, security, education and culture.

Consistent with our shared vision to strengthen connectivity between our two countries, we have decided to enhance the number of weekly flights between Pakistan and Turkey.

Likewise, our financial, cultural and educational linkages would also be strengthened.

I am confident that we would be able to carry forward the positive momentum generated by this meeting into a comprehensive framework of cooperation between the two countries.

We are meeting at a time when there is strife and instability in our wider region. As two strong democracies, Pakistan and Turkey need to redouble their efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.

I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Erdogan for the next session of High Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Pakistan in the near future.

As the Prime Minister Erdogan said that he is coming to Pakistan in November with his team members. We would then sit with them and work together to implement whatever has been agreed upon mutually between Pakistan and Turkey.

I assured the Turkish Prime Minister in my meetings that he will not find Pakistan lagging behind in implementing effectively whatever we have signed together, whatever we have agreed upon and the MoUs that we signed here today.

I think it is about time that we harness the real potential of our relations that exist between Pakistan and Turkey.